AUTOMATICALLY LATCHING BOLT

Abstract: An automatically latching lock mechanism for locking a door, which comprises a latch mechanism mounted in the body (11) of a door and a pull bar (8) connected thereto. The latch mechanism comprises a latch (13) turnable on a shaft, which preferably is a flat-shaped member having an asymmetric periphery and turnable around the shaft and provided with at least two radially outwardly projecting protrusions (1, 2) which form a locking latch (2) which in the locking position of the lock mechanism protrudes from the body (11) of the door extending into a recess or the like formed in the door frame (10), and a detecting latch (1) which in the unlocked position of the lock mechanism protrudes from the body of the door and when closing the door hits the door frame thereby turning the latch so that the locking latch (2) is pushed out from the body of the door.

Description: AUTOMATICALLY LATCHING BOLT. The invention relates to an automatically latching locking device for locking a door, which locking device comprises a latch mounted in the body of the door and a pull bar connected to it. The invention thus relates for instance to a lock mechanism used in double doors for locking the half of the double door which is normally kept locked. The long rod locking devices on the market at present do not usually lock automatically but reguire that the user of the door performs a specific locking movement. Due to this, these products are not suited for doors which are normally kept open, but should close and lock automatically for instance in case of a fire. To this group belong all compartmentation fire double doors. In the daily practice, however, one of the double doors often becomes a through passage door, while the other is kept locked. This has prevented the efficient use of the whole width of the passage. A turnable latch and automatic locking has been used in the way that the latch turns horizontally supported by a cantilever shaft, whereby the strength of the product is critical. Additionally the product has a complicated pull rod system and is therefore difficult to install. None of the products mentioned above have been designed taking into consideration the possibility of using an electric locking system. It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to replace the conventional long rod locking device with a locking device arrangement with a turnable latch. The invention is characterized by the features set forth in the appended claims. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the latch mechanism is connected to a sensing element or a detecting latch which automatically effects closing of the door and locking of the latch mechanism when the sensing element of the latch mechanism has come into contact with the door frame or the like. In fire door arrangements in which a latch mechanism is disposed both in the upper and lower parts of the door, the pull rods are preferably connected to the latch mechanism so that the unlocking of the latch mechanisms is effected synchronously, for instance by pressing a push-button, but the locking of each latch mechanism is effected independently of the other. When the door is opened, the pull rods or wire ropes function actively and pull the latch mechanism to an unlocked position. When the latch mechanism has reached its unlocked position, i.e. when the locking latches have been retracted from the recesses in the door frames, the pull rods or wire ropes are released, i.e. permitted to move freely relative to the movement of the latch mechanism. The push-button is preferably provided with a return spring which, once the latch mechanism has been opened, returns the push-button and the pull rods or wire ropes to their initial positions, i.e. the rest positions. The pull rods or wire ropes, which are free relative to the push-button and latch mechanisms, do not substantially take part in the locking process when the door is closed. The latch mechanisms disposed in the upper and/or lower part of the door lock automatically when the sensing element or detecting latch mechanisms release or turn the locking latches into a locked position. Consequently, the locking of the two latch mechanisms takes place indepen- dently of each other and can thus take place at different times in each of the latch mechanisms. The pulling members in the locking device mechanism according to the invention can be relatively thin compared with the pull rods of the prior art, because their main purpose is only to transmit the pulling movement from the opening means to the latch mechanism. Thus, the pulling member does not necessarily have to be rigid. In some embodiments of the invention, a wire rope or other similar means can for instance be used to transmit the pulling movement. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the movement of the pulling member is transmitted to the locking latch by means of a mechanism comprising a latch turnable on a shaft and disposed in a box-like body part, which latch preferably is a flat-shaped member with an asymmetric periphery, turnable around the shaft and provided with at least two radially outwardly projecting protrusions, which form a locking latch and a detecting latch. In the locking position of the lock mechanism, the locking latch protrudes from the body of the door extending into an opening, recess, or the like, formed in the door frame, thereby locking the door. In the unlocked position of the lock mechanism, the detecting latch protrudes from the body of the door and hits the door frame when the door is being closed, thereby turning the latch so that the detecting latch is pushed downwards (in the upper part of the door) into the body of the door, and the locking latch is pushed upwards and out from the body of the door. The door can be provided with a door pump which automatically closes the door and starts the process of locking the door. Preferably a movable flat slide is additionally disposed in the latch mechanism, in which a blocking or locking piece in the locked position of the latch mechanism prevents the latch from turning and the locking latch from moving to its unlocked position. The slide is mounted in the body of the latch mechanism, movably and parallel with its base, enabling it to be moved along the base in the longitudinal direction of the sides. The slide can be moved between upper and lower extreme positions. The slide is preferably connected to the latch by means of a spring, which in the locked position strives to keep the slide in its upper extreme position. The slide is additionally connected to the pull rod or wire rope. The end of the pull rod, in which there is a stop, is then preferably arranged to go through an opening in the lower edge of the slide so that the pulling movement of the pull rod is transmitted to the slide, which pulls the slide in the direction of the pull rod. In the rest position of the pull rod, the movement of the slide is not transmitted to the pull rod. The active pulling movement of the pull rod or wire rope is capable of pulling the slide to its lower extreme position, thereby moving the blocking or locking piece to a lower position and releasing the latch, which by the action of the spring strives to move the locking latch to its unlocked position. When the locking latch has moved to the unlocked position, the pulling movement of the pull rod or wire rope, i.e. the pressing of the push-button, is stopped. A spring is preferably disposed in the push¬ button, which automatically returns the push-button, and with it, the pull rods or wire ropes to the rest position when the pressing has stopped. In the rest position of the push-button, the pull rod or wire rope is not operatively connected to the slide, whereby for instance the closing of the door, the movement of the latch and the movement of the slide to its upper extreme position does not have any effect on the pull rod or wire rope. By means of the invention an automatic and safer than before locking of fire doors and the like has been achieved, even in cases where the doors are not quite straight. By means of the invention the door can be made to lock merely by shutting it or by letting the door pump shut it. There is no risk of the fire door being left unlocked by mistake. The arrangement according to the invention is simple and can easily be carried out. By the latch mechanism according to the invention e.g. the following advantages compared with the prior art are achieved: strength, simple construction, automatic locking, easy installation, easy and fast unlocking for instance by a push-button and possibility to use electric control, for instance by means of solenoids. The invention is described in more detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 shows schematically partly in section a portion of the door frame and the body of the door in which an automatically latching locking device according to the invention is mounted, FIG. 2 shows the automatic locking device of FIG. 1 in its locking position, FIG. 3 shows schematically the automatic locking device in its locked position, and FIG. 4 shows the automatic locking device of FIG. 3 in the unlocked position. FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of the upper portion of the body 11 of a door and the door frame 10 above it. A latch 13 turnable on a pin 7 is mounted in the body of the door, parts of which latch, namely, a detecting latch 1 and a locking latch 2 protrude upwardly from the body of the door. A flat slide 4, to which a cube-like blocking piece 3 is attached, is mounted under the latch. In FIGS. 3 and 4, it can be seen that the lower part of the slide 4 is connected to the latch 13 by means of a spring 6. Additionally the slide 4 is connected to the pull bar 8 of the opening push-button. A counter plate 9 is mounted on the lower surface of the door frame 10. A hole is formed in the door frame and the counter plate. In the locking stage according to FIG. 1, the detecting latch 1 strikes the door frame and turns the locking latch 2 into the hole in the counter plate 9 and the door frame 10. FIG. 2 shows the latch according to FIG. 1 when the latch is in its locking position, with the locking latch 2 wholly turned into the hole in the counter plate 9 and the door frame 10. The cube-like blocking piece 3, which is attached to the flat slide 4 sliding beneath the latch 13, is now against the locking surface 12 at the lower edge of the latch and the latch is blocked. FIG: 3 shows the automatic locking device according to the invention without the cover in its locked position, the locking latch 2 being in an upright position. One end of the spring 6 is connected to the latch 13 and the other end to the lower end of the slide 4, the spring thereby keeping the blocking piece attached to the slide 4 in an upper position for preventing the blocking surface 12 of the latch from turning. FIG. 4 shows the automatic locking device according to the invention in its unlocked position, the detecting latch 1 being in an upright position. The spring 6 which is attached to the lower part of the slide 4 keeps the detecting latch 1 in the upright position and the latch ready to lock. The locking is performed according to FIG. 1: when the latch 13 turns around its pin 7, the front edge of detecting latch 1 strikes counter plate 9, and turns locking latch 2 into the hole in the counter plate 9 and door frame 10, whereafter the back edge of the locking latch 2 strikes the back edge of the counter plate 9 and the locking latch 2 turns completely into its locked position.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. An automatically latching lock mechanism for locking a door, which lock mechanism comprises a latch mechanism mounted in the body (11) of a door and a pull bar (8) connected thereto, characterized in that the latch mechanism comprises a latch (13) which is turnable on a shaft (7) and includes - a locking latch (2) , which for locking the lock mechanism can be turned into a hole in the door frame (10) by turning the latch (13) , and - a detecting latch (1) , which when the door is being closed, strikes the door frame (10) , for instance a counter plate disposed there, and turns the locking latch (2) into the hole in the door frame (10) . 2. The lock mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that the latch mechanism comprises - a latch (13) turnable on a shaft, which is preferably a flat-shaped member with an asymmetric periphery, turnable around the shaft and provided with at least two radially outwardly projecting protrusions (1, 2) which form - a locking latch (1) which in the locking position of the lock mechanism protrudes from the body (11) of the door extending into a recess or the like formed in the door frame (10) , and - a detecting latch (1) which in the unlocked position of the lock mechanism protrudes from the body of the door and when closing the door hits the door frame, thereby turning the latch in the way that the locking latch (2) is pushed out from the body of the door. 3. The lock mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that the latch mechanism comprises - a latch (13) turnable on a shaft and provided with a locking latch (2) , which in the locked position of the latch mechanism protrudes from the body of the door extending into a recess or the like formed in the door frame, and - a slide (4) , which is connected, for instance by means of a spring (6) , to an ear (14) formed in the latch, and that - the pull bar (8) is connected to the slide for transmitting the movement of the opening means, such as a push-button, to the latch and for retracting the locking latch (2) from the recess formed in the door frame. 4. The lock mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that the latch mechanism comprises - a body (15) of the latch mechanism, - a latch (13) turnable on a shaft, which is mounted in the body so that the turning movement of the latch takes place substantially in a plane parallel with the base of the body, and - a slide (4), which is disposed in the body of the latch mechanism, movably and parallel with its base in the way that the slide can be moved along the base, and operatively connected to the latch (13) for instance by means of a spring (6) . 5. The lock mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that - the body (15) of the latch mechanism is mounted in the body of the door so that the base of the latch mechanism is at right angles to the surface of the door and vertically so that the latch (13) turning on the shaft is disposed in the upper end of the body of the latch mechanism, - the slide (4) is movable in a vertical plane between two extreme positions, - the slide is connected to the latch by means of a spring (6) which strives to turn the latch so that the locking latch (2) moves to an unlocked position, and that - a blocking piece (3) is disposed or formed in the slide, which in the first, upper extreme position of the slide prevents the latch from turning and locks the lock mechanism and in the second, lower extreme position of the slide permits the latch to turn freely. 6. The lock mechanism according to claim 2, characterized in that - the latch (13) turnable on a shaft is a flat-shaped member with an asymmetric periphery, turnable around the shaft and provided with radially outwardly projecting protrusions (1, 2, 14, 16) which form - a locking latch (2) , which in the locking position of the lock mechanism protrudes from the body (11) of the door extending into a recess or the like formed in the door frame (10) , - a detecting latch (1) , which in the unlocked position of the lock mechanism protrudes from the body of the door and when closing the door hits the door frame (10) , thereby turning the latch (13) so that the locking latch (2) is pushed out from the body of the door, - an attachment ear (14) for the spring (6) for attaching the spring which is connected to the slide (4) to the latch (13), and - a protrusion (16) blocking the movement of the latch mechanism, which when the slide is in its upper extreme position engages with the blocking piece (3) and thus prevents the latch from turning. 7. The lock mechanism according to claim 6, characterized in that - the locking latch (2) and the protrusion (16) blocking the movement of the latch mechanism are formed in the latch (13) on substantially opposite sides of its shaft, and that - the locking latch (2) and the detecting latch (1) are placed at an angle of about 70° to 120° from each other. 8. The lock mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that the latch mechanism comprises - a latch (13) turnable on a shaft, which is mounted in the body (15) of the latch mechanism and provided with a locking latch (2) which in the locked position of the latch mechanism protrudes from the body (11) of the door extending into a recess or the like formed in the door frame (10) , and - a slide (4) , which is mounted in the body (15) of the latch mechanism, movably and parallel to its base so that the slide can be moved along the base of the body of the latch mechanism, and operatively connected to the latch for instance by means of a spring (6) , and that - the pull bar (8) at the latch mechanism end of which there is a stop (16) is movably connected to the slide (4) so that the pulling movement effected by the opening means (10) in the pull bar by means of the stop (16) is transmitted to the slide (4) causing a movement in the direction of the pull bar and that the movement of the pull bar in the opposite direction takes place freely without moving the slide. 9. The lock mechanism according to claim 8, characterized in that - a substantially horizontal protrusion or abutment in which there is an opening (17) is formed in the lower end of the slide (4) , - the pull bar (8) is adapted to extend through the opening (17) , and that - the stop (16) at the end of the pull bar is shaped in such a way that it, when the pull bar is pulled, pulls the slide in the direction of the pull bar. 10. The lock mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that the latch mechanism comprises - a latch (13) turnable on a shaft, which is mounted in the body (15) of the latch mechanism and provided with a locking latch (2) and a detecting latch (1) , and - a slide (4) , which is movably mounted in the body (15) of the latch mechanism and connected to the turnable latch (13) by means of a spring (6), and that - the latch turnable on the shaft is disposed in the upper part of the latch mechanism at such a level that the locking latch (2) in its locked position protrudes from the body (11) of the door extending into a recess or the like in the door frame (10) above it and in its unlocked position remains below the door frame, and that - the pull bar (8) is connected to the lower edge of the slide (4) so that the slide can by a pulling movement of the pull bar be pulled downwards and away from the latch in the latch mechanism.

Inventors: KANKKUNEN SEPPO ILMARI, KANKKUNEN, SEPPO, ILMARI
Applicants: KANKKUNEN SEPPO ILMARI, KANKKUNEN, SEPPO, ILMARI
Application year: 1994
Main classification: E05C3
IPC codes: E05B63, E05B65